Tag Archives: 3D printing

We have come a long way since the 3Doodler – the 3D printing pen, surprised the world by raising over $2 million on Kickstarter. One thing that has changed for good since then is that some of the most incredible works of 3D art have been designed using the 3Doodler. Case in point is this 3D printed flying hexacopter drone made entirely with the 3Doodler. Created by Louis DeRosa of Plasticity Productions, the 3Doodler printed hexacopter can actually fly like an efficient drone.

Except for the motor, motherboard and battery, everything on DeRosa’s drone is made from 3D printing. Like many 3D creators would affirm, working with the 3Doodler is just like working with the pen on paper, but it wasn’t as simple for DeRosa. The first version of the drone he conceived had some design flaws and proved to be a little off balance. If you’ve built your own drones, or have used a hexacopter like this, you’d know – complete balance is key to a hexacopter’s consistent flight.

Working more cautiously on the things he’d done incorrectly, DeRosa created the second version as a 6-winged flying drone. It took DeRosa a few hours to work upon the first version and arrive at a fully tested second and final version.

Getting stuff 3D printed is neat, but you usually end up with a monochrome item that later needs to be painted. While some see this as an opportunity to get creative, other might prefer to have the option to output in colour immediately. The 3D4C 3D printer pictured above combines 4 filaments to create a wide range of colours in your prints. It’s billed as the first CYMK 3D printer, and we’re inclined to believe them. And despite featuring relatively novel technology, this printer claims to be able to achieve 100 microns of resolution, which is on par with the Replicator 2X. Currently raising funds on Kickstarter, an £850 ($1,420 USD, roughly) pledge should get you a unit. But hurry since this is Early Bird pricing, and it goes up once the initial 100 units are sold.

Taking selfies one step farther and giving them the 3D treatment is Shapify. Their service lets you turn your self-portraits into a three-dimension action figure that you can proudly display in your home or office. All you need is the Shapify app and a Kinect sensor (borrow your neighbor’s, if you don’t have one!) to 3D scan yourself.

When you’re done, send it off to Shapify to order your selfie figurine. We have to warn you, though, this definitely costs more than your average selfie, since it’ll set you $79 back.

Ears are like fingerprints: no two are alike. Earphones on the other hand tend to come mass-produced in one shape only. This means you’ll either get an ok fit, or a terrible fit, but rarely will you get an exact fit. Normal Earphones hope to change all that by allowing you to make custom 3D-printed buds. Just take a picture of your ears with your smartphone, send it to the company for processing and less than 48h later they’ll be in your hands. They use “nerdalicious software and 3D printing to sculpt each one-of-a-kind pair”, while also integrating some high-end components to match their custom fit with quality sound. At $200 for the pair, we sure hope they mean that.

Th 3D-printing pens we’ve seen thus far work by melting plastic “ink,” which then harden as it cools into whatever shape the user chose to draw or form. Think of it like a glue gun in pen form that extrudes plastic instead of glue, and there you go. Bringing something different to the table, however, is CreoPop.

CreoPop takes the heat out of the equation, and it’s all possible thanks to the type of plastic that it uses: a light-sensitive resin that hardens upon exposure to UV light. Since it doesn’t use heat, it opens the door for many more applications and makes it safer to use for those who are normally clumsy and for kids, too.

What do you get if you slap together a hot plate, an Arduino controller, some stepper motors, and an acrylic supporting structure? A PancakeBot, is what. It’s a 3D printing machine that is absolutely unlike the boring old combination of printer assembly and widely used ink cartridges that can only print 2D images of the most delicious pancakes in the world. The PancakeBot’s creations will taste as delicious as they’re elaborate. Simply load up the batter, settle on a design, and watch as the print head lays down an edible Eiffel tower, a scrumptious SpiderMan face, or a fluffy galloping horse.

In the works since 2010 by one Miguel Valenzuela, the current version of PancakeBot doesn’t use its initial LEGO Minstorms structure and is a little more involved in its fabrication. Although not available commercially, Miguel does use this prototype to teach children in after-school programs about engineering, robot building and programming.

“Prepare for the unexpected” is what they always say. While you can’t exactly prepare for every single thing, you could take a cue from past experiences to prepare for the inevitable. For example, if your friends have a habit of inviting you out at the last minute for a game of basketball, then it might be a good idea to keep a pair of sneakers in your car, right?

If you don’t drive, then the Sneakerbot II is a good option. These 3D printed sneakers were inspired by Back to the Future and Star Wars, and it shows in its design, which was done by Recreus founder Ignacio Garcia. Using his company’s new Filaflex 1.75mm filament, the resulting 3D-printed sneakers can be bent and folded so you can just fold them up and throw them into your bag or briefcase.

That’s a sweet looking 3D printing creation. It’s a skull made in Zbrush and printed in nylon and it kind of looks like a Slinky, only more skull-like. It’s called Mortal Coil, which is a brilliant name and deserving of some attention for the cleverness alone. Shapeways is doing the printing, so it’ll be pretty high quality, which partly offsets the fact that it’s also pretty expensive: $50.

Who on the internet hasn’t seen that image of Keanu Reeves hunched over at a park bench, looking extremely downcast and lonely? Fans of Keanu rushed to send the actor messages of encouragement, which prompted him to explain that he wasn’t depressed but was just enjoying a solo lunch at the park.

It’s crazy what a single image can do and what the internet can come up because of it. Aside from memes and fan art, an actual 3D-printed model of Sad Keanu now exists, thanks to Japan-based toy builder idk.… Continue Reading

OhGizmo! is a frequently updated blog that focuses on covering items that will appeal to a very specific and often very passionate audience: the geek. Aside from the fare of innovative consumer electronic products, the reader can expect to find news about geek culture, absurd inventions, awe inspiring technology, and an ever growing assortment of articles that we like to think fit within our view of what we’re calling the Geek Lifestyle.